Wednesday, October 1, 2008

All the (Electric) Ships at Sea

This National Defense Magazine article from late last year describes the ambitious R&D being conducted by ONR and NAVSEA to substantially improve the way USN ships are powered. According to ONR's John Pazik, the org has created five focus areas for researching advanced naval power for all-electric ships:

power generation

distribution and control

energy storage

heat transfer and thermal management

motors and actuators

While some of the technologies will be difficult to master (e.g., fuel cells, capacitors, solar power, alternative fuels, etc.) I have no doubt they'll achieve success over time. What I have less confidence about is whether we'll be able to procure them in significant numbers in our lifetimes. Has anyone noticed that our ability to design, buy and build new ships is just about broken? Let's fix that soon, OK? We've got some fuel efficient ships to launch.

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This blog tracks the energy challenges facing the US Department of Defense in the early 21st century. Drawing from the best thinking inside and outside the Pentagon, it examines problems and identifies possible short, medium and long term solutions in technology and policy.

Andy Bochman runs the DOD Energy Blog and can be reached at andybochman at gmail dot com